Do I ship it?

Games › Settings › Dinosaurs

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dinosaur game?

Dinosaurs

Of 160 developers who shipped a Dinosaur game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 262 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $390k, ×628 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 262 games are announced against 97 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 35% on the market, 262 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Dinosaurs
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 160
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $716 → $2.6k → $1.7k → $2.2k → $1.6k → $1.9k → $1.8k (still earning) → $899 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Dinosaurs: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 160
Bottom 30% $356 (exactly $356)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,798)
Top 25% $16k (exactly $16,189)
Top 5% $394k (exactly $394,387)
Developers, 2 yr 160
Released games 587
Announced 262
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue up 35% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Dinosaurs
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 22,269 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $16k, 1 in 20 over $390k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 9 in 10 of the 76 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 262 games are announced against 97 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Dinosaurs

44 pairs with a mechanicwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Collectathon + Dinosaurs Fair $1.5k 11 devs
  2. Arcade + Dinosaurs Fair $1.2k 29 devs
  3. Physics + Dinosaurs Poor odds $76k 8 devs
  4. Co-op + Dinosaurs Poor odds $34k 9 devs
  5. Action RPG + Dinosaurs Poor odds $18k 11 devs
  6. Stealth + Dinosaurs Poor odds $17k 10 devs
  7. Base Building + Dinosaurs Poor odds $16k 13 devs
  8. Survival Horror + Dinosaurs Poor odds $14k 10 devs
  9. Action Roguelike + Dinosaurs Poor odds $11k 12 devs
  10. PvP + Dinosaurs Poor odds $9.0k 13 devs
  11. Third-Person Shooter + Dinosaurs Poor odds $9.0k 8 devs
  12. Sandbox + Dinosaurs Poor odds $8.5k 19 devs
  13. Building + Dinosaurs Poor odds $8.5k 13 devs
  14. RPG + Dinosaurs Poor odds $7.8k 30 devs
  15. Survival + Dinosaurs Poor odds $6.7k 34 devs
  16. Shooter + Dinosaurs Poor odds $6.7k 22 devs
  17. Roguelike + Dinosaurs Poor odds $6.3k 13 devs
  18. PvE + Dinosaurs Poor odds $5.4k 28 devs
  19. Open World + Dinosaurs Poor odds $5.4k 27 devs
  20. Crafting + Dinosaurs Poor odds $5.4k 17 devs
  21. Multiple Endings + Dinosaurs Poor odds $5.4k 6 devs
  22. Point & Click + Dinosaurs Poor odds $3.3k 6 devs
  23. Management + Dinosaurs Poor odds $3.1k 10 devs
  24. FPS + Dinosaurs Poor odds $3.0k 20 devs
  25. Action-Adventure + Dinosaurs Poor odds $2.6k 41 devs
  26. Combat + Dinosaurs Poor odds $2.5k 28 devs
  27. Resource Management + Dinosaurs Poor odds $2.5k 12 devs
  28. Action + Dinosaurs Poor odds $2.3k 87 devs
  29. Strategy + Dinosaurs Poor odds $1.9k 29 devs
  30. Exploration + Dinosaurs Poor odds $1.8k 56 devs
  31. Adventure + Dinosaurs Poor odds $1.8k 80 devs
  32. Immersive Sim + Dinosaurs Poor odds $1.8k 10 devs
  33. Simulation + Dinosaurs Poor odds $1.7k 38 devs
  34. Creature Collector + Dinosaurs Poor odds $1.7k 19 devs
  35. Character Customization + Dinosaurs Poor odds $1.5k 18 devs
  36. Hunting + Dinosaurs Poor odds $1.2k 12 devs
  37. 2D Platformer + Dinosaurs Poor odds $959 20 devs
  38. Platformer + Dinosaurs Poor odds $599 19 devs
  39. Puzzle + Dinosaurs Poor odds $599 16 devs
  40. Procedural Generation + Dinosaurs Dead $9.3k 5 devs
  41. Visual Novel + Dinosaurs Dead $1.8k 8 devs
  42. Life Sim + Dinosaurs Dead $1.7k 6 devs
  43. Choices Matter + Dinosaurs Dead $1.6k 6 devs
  44. 3D Platformer + Dinosaurs Dead $150 12 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

ARK: Survival Evolved 2017 · $264M ARK: Survival Ascended 2023 · EA · $144M Horizon Zero Dawn™ Complete Edition 2020 · $144M Jurassic World Evolution 2 2021 · $71M The Isle 2015 · EA · $67M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
ARK: Survival Evolved older $14.99 586,768 83% 18M $264M (exactly $263,869,570) Studio Wildcard, Instinct Games, Efecto… (Studio Wildcard, Instinct Games, Efecto Studios, Virtual Basement LLC)
ARK: Survival Ascended · EA older $44.99 106,761 60% 3.2M $144M (exactly $144,095,322) Studio Wildcard, Grove Street Games, In… (Studio Wildcard, Grove Street Games, Instinct Games)
Horizon Zero Dawn™ Complete Edition older $49.99 95,804 87% 2.9M $144M (exactly $143,677,259) Guerrilla
Jurassic World Evolution 2 older $59.99 39,644 90% 1.2M $71M (exactly $71,347,307) Frontier Developments
The Isle · EA older $19.99 111,397 80% 3.3M $67M (exactly $66,804,781) Afterthought LLC
Jurassic World Evolution older $44.99 48,311 87% 1.4M $65M (exactly $65,205,357) Frontier Developments
Jurassic World Evolution 3 $59.99 11,387 93% 342k $20M (exactly $20,493,184) Frontier Developments
PixARK older $19.99 11,142 73% 334k $6.7M (exactly $6,681,857) Snail Games USA
Prehistoric Kingdom · EA older $29.99 5,640 90% 169k $5.1M (exactly $5,074,308) Blue Meridian
Beasts of Bermuda · EA older $19.99 8,430 69% 253k $5.1M (exactly $5,055,471) Sastrei Studios, LLC
Dinoblade $19.99 2,420 90% 73k $1.5M (exactly $1,451,274) Team Spino LLC
Amber Isle $24.99 1,770 82% 53k $1.3M (exactly $1,326,969) Ambertail Games
LIZARDS MUST DIE 2 $9.99 2,232 94% 67k $669k (exactly $668,930) the Bratans, Smola Game Studio
FEROCIOUS $24.99 742 63% 22k $556k (exactly $556,277) OMYOG
Clawed $19.99 729 52% 22k $437k (exactly $437,181) Flatrock Games
Dinotica $17.99 746 86% 22k $403k (exactly $402,616) XA Studio
Deathground · EA $14.99 877 61% 26k $394k (exactly $394,387) Jaw Drop Games
Primal Planet $19.99 629 88% 19k $377k (exactly $377,211) Seethingswarm
Dinocop $14.99 737 96% 22k $331k (exactly $331,429) Pieces Games

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.